I have been considering building a HTPC strictly use as a HD PVR/ ATSC Box for HD OTA. As i can't seem to find a standalone STB that will do the same for a decent amount of money. Now i haven't built a HTPC in a couple of years so i want to make sure this will work.

There are Asus versions of it and other brands but I do believe the Gigabyte one is the best out of them.

lcdguy

October 8, 2008 04:18 AM

i'll keep that in mind.

lcdguy

October 8, 2008 04:59 AM

i did some quick pricematching. And since i already have the HDD and Software i banged out an estimate of just under $590 with $50 budgeted for shipping. I really don't think i will be able to build a HD DVR for much less than that and still look good :). I am also toying with the idea of 2 hvr-1800 tuners since the pricematched price i found is only $100 :)

cdn_Madrach

October 8, 2008 06:44 AM

The Ati cards do at least 5.1 (3800 series) - 7.1 (4800) series sound through hdmi. Also the 4800 series can utilize 2 hd signals giving you picture in picture hd. If you decide on the 780g route gigabyte is considered a good choice. I'm currently using a 3850 and picture quality with BD discs and hd tv look great + I can game a little on the 46" lcd:biggrin:

misterd

October 8, 2008 07:20 AM

I have that Gigabyte 780g motherboard and a 5000+ black edition. Works fine in Windows, gaming sucks however with the onboard HD3200 as expected. The other catch is that you only get 2 Channel PCM sound over the HDMI. Something I missed in doing my research. I'd look into one of the new 46xx/45xx ATI cards. One of the 4550 is 100% passive so that would be nice and quiet in the living room. Do remember that there's only one PCI-E 1x slot on that board, and your video card will take up the 16x, so all you're left with 2 PCI slots. Just something to keep in mind. Have fun building!

lcdguy

October 8, 2008 07:25 AM

1. I won't be playing BD discs on it. Thats what my ps3 is for.

I am strictly using this for video file playback / HD OTA DVR :) I will see about a cheapy 3850 as i had one before and it was pretty decent.

Phobia

October 8, 2008 07:31 AM

i have a 3450 in my htpc. its passive, and works well.. plus it was 50$

I am strictly using this for video file playback / HD OTA DVR :) I will see about a cheapy 3850 as i had one before and it was pretty decent.

That's why i mentioned the 2 channel PCM over HDMI, playing video files.. it's nice to have the surround sound. Just wanted to make sure you didn't end up in the same boat as me. To get 5.1+ with that Gigabyte 780 board you need either optical/SPDIF or :censored:analog.